poppyshake
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I'm hoping that the BBC will come up with another vehicle for Mel & Sue .. and Mary (but then Mary already has her own programmes so I guess there'll be a continuation of those. If they need a judge to go with Mary then I'd go for Richard Bertinet .. I love him when he's on Extra Slice .. and I love his bread/pastries
) Not surprised that Paul is the one to leave ... had a hunch he might. Adverts do my head in (and fast forwarding them's no better) plus all that .. 'coming up' nonsense .. and 'here's what happened earlier' .. so I can't see me watching it. They will need to choose their hosts very, very, carefully. Mel & Sue have been a double act .. well .. forever really and they have an ease and a telepathic understanding. Plus they're able to talk to the contestants without patronising and hugs and words of encouragement seem natural coming from them. I've never been keen when other people have hosted (as in Bake for Comic Relief) because it loses something but then, as it's for charity and also temporary .. I can bear it Suggestions I've seen:
Alan Carr .. No!
Nigella Lawson .. Not really
Rylan Clark .. Please no!
Sarah Millican .. No thank you
Davina .. Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!
Rosemary Shrager: God no!
Cherish Finden: *Head in hands*
Wouldn't really want any of the previous winners or participants hosting either .. however much I liked them in their own series.
I suppose French & Saunders are a possibility for hosts.. if they're up for it. Wasn't keen when Jennifer did it on her own but early days and all that. In a way though it's a poisoned chalice .. people will compare .. I will for a start
Anyways, I don't like the way the whole thing was handled .. that might be business but it's a poor way to treat people/viewers so I doubt I'll watch but it'll be a while so maybe I'll come around. Doesn't appeal though in any way.
Bah!! We were all enjoying it so much though
I don't watch TV much and it was a highlight
I LOVE pastry so really enjoyed last week. I've made a Bakewell tart umpteen times .. it's such a fave but don't know if i could wing it with only a few instructions. The time constraints are what makes them fail though .. can't bake it enough or don't have time to let it cool down etc. Must be so frustrating.
Yes Madeleine .. it makes me absolutely ravenous
What makes it worse is that I follow a lot of the previous bakers on Instagram and they particularly like to bake on Bake Off day. My feed is full of cake/biscuits/pies etc. I make it a rule never to have anything in on Wednesday .. not even a half packet of biscuits .. because I know I'll just scoff them without even noticing. I have to eat with my eyes .. it's terrible .. it doesn't fill you up -
Something Nasty in the Woodshed - Kyril Bonfiglioli
Synopsis: Something Nasty in the Woodshed - the third Charlie Mortdecai novel. "Splendidly enjoyable. The jokes are excellent, but the most horrible things keep happening". (Sunday Telegraph). 'Spring was infesting the air in no uncertain fashion and I awoke, for once, with a feeling of well-being and an urge to go for long country walks.' Charlie Mortdecai - minor aristocrat and art-dealer banished from London for crimes against, well, art - has decamped to the tiny island of Jersey with his wife Johanna and manservant Jock. There, amidst tax dodgers and inbred natives, he had hoped to lie low, and sink lower. But when a friend's wife is attacked, Charlie is forced to turn sleuth to discover the perpetrator. As further attacks occur, of an increasingly Satanic nature, Charlie finds he is desperate to solve the crimes before things turn truly Hellish.Review: Another book with a Jeeves and Wooster flavour (again .. Charlie is an admirer of the books.) This is the third and I think last of the Mortdecai books or at least this is the last in the trilogy. I think there are others that are connected but which don't follow on. I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as the last two. Written back in the 1970s the books are not what you might call PC
... you can't help but cringe at some of the things said and done. He'd never get away with it nowadays (good job too) but again, there are hugely enjoyable bits and clever dialogue. This one just fell a bit flat and was uncomfortable to read in places. Not sure I would carry on with the series even if there were more although they can be very witty and entertaining. Liked it (in parts!)The great joy of these books are the covers .. makes me happy just looking at them
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Wake Up Sir by Jonathan Ames
Synopsis: Alan Blair, the hero of Wake Up, Sir!, is a young, loony writer with numerous problems of the mental, emotional, sexual, spiritual, and physical variety. He's very good at problems. But luckily for Alan, he has a personal valet named Jeeves, who does his best to sort things out for his troubled master. And Alan does find trouble wherever he goes. He embarks on a perilous and bizarre road journey, his destination being an artists colony in Saratoga Springs. There Alan encounters a gorgeous femme fatale who is in possession of the most spectacular nose in the history of noses. Such a nose can only lead to a wild disaster for someone like Alan, and Jeeves tries to help him, but... Well, read the book and find out.
Review: This one promises much but doesn't really deliver. Alan's valet, Jeeves .. is only Jeeves in name only. He does all the 'yes, sir's .. 'I really couldn't say sir's etc etc and can run a decent bath and make a good breakfast but he's not particularly clever, he's not a solver of catastrophes and .. well .. he's just not Jeeves! Alan isn't Bertie either .. he is hapless but not quite in the lovably, good natured, way that Bertie is. He's just an idiot really (or acts idiotically which is more to the point.) Of course, this isn't supposed to have any ties to the Jeeves and Wooster books .. apart from the mention of the characters (Alan's a fan .. so he likes to use some Woosterisms and he's tickled pink to have a valet called Jeeves) but it's what you expect from the title and the cover.
All that said, I did find it to be very readable and did laugh at some of Alan's extraordinary exploits. He frustrated me hugely but then I think he was supposed to. I wanted to slap him across the face with a wet fish .. almost at every page turn He is supposed to be writing a book but his love of the bottle and the ladies seriously ruin all his good intentions. He ends up at an artist's colony where he meets some like minded people but instead of it being a place of retreat and encouragement .. it turns out to be a madhouse full of eccentrics and he's led into further troubled waters.
I enjoyed it, sort of, it's quite slapstick and genuinely funny in places but I found it hard to like Alan or warm to the cardboard cutout, Jeeves. He just wasn't Jeevesey enoughLiked it! -
I agree, that seems to be the case. A lot of the children's books I read, come from the library (and children's books are what I mostly loan from the library, for books for adults I generally prefer to own them myself). Sometimes I think illustrations definitely feature into that, as children's books tend to have more illustrations, sometimes even coloured illustrations, than books for adults. But not always, a lot of children's books don't contain any illustrations.
I read Mark Cotta Vaz - The Making of Eragon (The Making of Eragon), a book about the making of the movie Eragon. I don't normally read books like this, but I went past the 'movie / TV / etc for children and young-adults' book section at the library and saw this book. I thought I'd give it a go (since it's free). I've seen the movie several times - and I read the first book in the series (the movie is based on the first book). I haven't yet read books 2, 3 and 4 (though at the time of writing The Making of Eragon book, the series was planned as a trilogy). I enjoyed hearing from the author of the series, who started writing the first book when he was 15 I believe. It's pretty amazing when you read his story, his family gambled everything on his book (titled Eragon), and he sold lots of copies (and deserved, I really liked Eragon). It was also interesting to read how the movie was made, and see behind-the-scenes photos.
If I like a book/film then I love reading books like these that tell you all about the making of them etc. How amazing to have written a best seller at 15!!!
I wonder how old the oldest person to have written a debut novel is? (in code this means .. is it too late for me?
) It's nice that it all worked out for the family after staking all they had on it. Great review Gaia! xx
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Great review for Monsters Noll. I agree with it all (so will just link
) but I didn't knock a star off .. I thought it was definitely among the best I've read this year. Could not put it down. Woofed it up .. which is sadly rare these days. Made me feel terribly uncomfortable but not so much that I couldn't bear to go on with it. Ruth pointed out to me that Emerald is an actress in Call the Midwife .. I didn't know (well .. I've hardly ever seen it so no surprise there ) .. she has written some children's books but sadly my library doesn't stock them and can't get them in I'll be looking out for her for sure though -
I have had such a busy few weeks, I've had hardly any time for reading, and when I have, I haven't been able to settle on a book, so I've tried about half a dozen books without luck. I don't go back to work until Wednesday, so I might try and find a quiet place for an hour tomorrow and attempt a decent reading session.
I've got two Wainwright Prize books left to read, and I bought some new novels last week too, so I've got plenty to choose from, I just need to find the right one now!
I'm so far behind with reviews, I might be skipping quite a few and just do ones for book on a couple of challenges I'm doing, and maybe a few short reviews ... and even then, I'm not sure when I'll get round to them, but I will try.
Haha .. we've got the review blues this year! The important thing though is to read yes?
and not to stress too much on writing up stuff that people will only disregard anyway (if they have any sense .. oops .. I'm talking about mine of course 
) Hope you've found some books you love Claire or have got stuck into some good ones. Thanks for the tip off about The Chronicles of St Mary's short stories ... they're keeping me amused on my walks and, what's more, making my Goodreads target deficit a little less alarming
Haha .. it doesn't know they're short stories!! 1-0 to me I think Sadly, I can't read any more until I've read #4 .. just waiting to get my next credit at Audible. -
What lovely pics of the cabin and the sea etc
.. how bloomin' exciting 
:cows: .. and little Mokka too <3 Breathe in all that beautiful sea air!! will do you the world of good
In other news, I'm very sorry that your recent reads have been 'utter crap'
You need to read a seafaring tale .. you need to read The Summer Book actually (though I know you're not a big fan of Tove 
) .. it'd be just the thing. Anyway, it's very difficult, when you're by the sea, to do anything in your spare time but gaze and gaze at it .. so breathtakingly beautiful.Hope you're having the best of times my lovely
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Oh I hate all that 'previous dance training' nonsense!! Contestants can have all sort of advantages .. being a calm person is one of them
I'd definitely want THAT advantage. Lovely to see Jay and Aliona again .. will miss seeing her (and him for that matter .. they made Strictly for me last year.)
I think the pairings are quite good .. on the whole. I don't have a favourite just yet but am leaning towards Greg and Natalie .. as I love her anyway and like him a lot.
They all look pretty good and so I think we're probably going to lose a good dancer fairly early on .. if not straight away. Ed and Lesley are possibly going to struggle more than the rest but I can see them lasting for a bit (especially if the judges are cruel) so it's someone more middling that will go. It looks tight this year.
By week two last year I knew who my favourite was but that's unusual .. it often takes me a good month to work it out. In a way I hope I don't have an out and out fave as it makes it a trial (and I have to watch behind cushions etc
) .. but I usually do. The last two years my fave has won so I'm not too scared of cursing them. My last disappointment was when Nimble Kimble lost out to Louis Smith (though .. that was always on the cards!!) Anyway, Strictly's back and we have something to make the darker, colder, nights more bearable!
:cows: If I had to predict 4 for the final .. I'd go with:
Greg & Natalie
Claudia & AJ
Will & Karen
Louise & Kevin
... also thinking that Laura looks v good .. so does Naga.
Be interesting to look back and see how wrong/right I am. I think Anastacia could go a long, long, way actually .. there's an incredible amount of goodwill towards her already
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I met up with Claire, Kay and Alan in Bristol today.
As ever, we I had a great time - it always goes too fast! I went on the bus which took an hour and ten minutes on the way there, and 55 minutes on the way home, so lots of lovely audio-book-listening time!
Kay loaned me this...
Lovely to see you and Claire, Janet
Time does go so fast though .. why does it do that? I've been on my own this bank holiday weekend and it's draaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaggged! Who's in charge of that!?! Hope you enjoy the book
And I bought these (and some Alice in Wonderland playing cards
) with a Waterstone's gift voucher...
Looking forward to our next meet-up, guys.
xxThose two books are beautiful, it's just a pleasure to look at them .. if they're good .. that's a bonus
xxYes, here's to our next get together
(four go in search of cake and books .. and good conversation ) -
The Versions Of Us by Laura Barnett
Synopsis: What if you had said yes ...? Eva and Jim are nineteen, and students at Cambridge, when their paths first cross in 1958. Jim is walking along a lane when a woman approaching him on a bicycle swerves to avoid a dog. What happens next will determine the rest of their lives. We follow three different versions of their future - together, and apart - as their love story takes on different incarnations and twists and turns to the conclusion in the present day. The Versions of Us is an outstanding debut novel about the choices we make and the different paths that our lives might follow. What if one small decision could change the rest of your life?
Review: This seems to be a popular narrative device now .. different versions of the same lives .. but lives where the outcomes have changed because at some pivotal point .. a character has not agreed to a thing or said a thing or met a person or gone down a road. It's a very interesting concept but it also can be quite a confusing one. Here, I spent some time not quite knowing what version I was in (although it does tell you, helpfully, at the start of each chapter whether you're in version one, two or three .. I just couldn't remember which was which anyway ) In each version the children were different but I couldn't quite get them fixed in my head. Eventually I settled to it and then began to prefer one version to the others and started resenting the behaviour of some of the characters in the un-preferred versions and feeling that they wouldn't ever behave in that way .. or not wanting them to anyway Again .. a good sign that the characters had come alive for me. Because of the format I didn't feel that it was a very relaxing read .. mentally you had to be on your toes (or mentally I had to be on mine .. I won't presume to sink you to my level
) It'd be a good book to read in one or two sittings because any time spent away from the story is only going to add to the confusion (which of course .. is what I did .) Very fascinating though and very poignant. The two central characters .. Eva and Jim .. are interesting enough to make you want to know how each version turns out for them. Liked it! -
The House at the End of Hope Street by Menna van Praag
Synopsis: Distraught that her academic career has stalled, Alba is walking through her hometown of Cambridge, England, when she finds herself in front of a house she's never seen before, 11 Hope Street. A beautiful older woman named Peggy greets her and invites her to stay, on the house's usual conditions: she has ninety-nine nights to turn her life around. With nothing left to lose, Alba takes a chance and moves in.She soon discovers that this is no ordinary house. Past residents have included George Eliot and Beatrix Potter, who, after receiving the assistance they needed, hung around to help newcomers-literally, in talking portraits on the wall. As she escapes into this new world, Alba begins a journey that will heal her wounds-and maybe even save her life.Filled with a colorful and unforgettable cast of literary figures, The House at the End of Hope Street is a charming, whimsical novel of hope and feminine wisdom that is sure to appeal to fans of Jasper Fforde and especially Sarah Addison Allen.
Review: Enjoyable story, I liked its magical, mystical, feel .. you never quite know what's going to happen at 11 Hope Street so unexpectedness is expected at every page turn. I got really involved, so much so that the story made me cry at one point which is quite rare and a sign that the characters had got under my skin. I'm a firm believer that hot chocolate has healing powers so was always going to be in tune with a story that believes that baking has magical properties and where there's always a whiff of ginger nuts in the air.I liked that past residents of the house were important female literary (or mostly literary anyway) figures (who appeared in portraits on walls .. giving out pearls of wisdom) .. apart from at the end when a few of them were given more dialogue and inevitably .. it didn't sound authentic
If you don't mind a bit of whimsy then this story might be for you. A good book to take on holiday as it's pretty easy to read and nothing too distressing happens (although .. as I said .. I did cry ) I agree with the blurb that it's quite like Sarah Addison Allen's stories or quite like The Girl Who Chased the Moon anyway. A feel good story with a sprinkle of magic dust and not too predictable or throwaway. Liked it!
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Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
Synopsis: 'Reminded me not just what it's like to be young and in love, but what it's like to be young and in love with a book' John Green, author of The Fault in our Stars Eleanor is the new girl in town, and she's never felt more alone. All mismatched clothes, mad red hair and chaotic home life, she couldn't stick out more if she tried. Then she takes the seat on the bus next to Park. Quiet, careful and - in Eleanor's eyes - impossibly cool, Park's worked out that flying under the radar is the best way to get by. Slowly, steadily, through late-night conversations and an ever-growing stack of mix tapes, Eleanor and Park fall in love. They fall in love the way you do the first time, when you're 16, and you have nothing and everything to lose. Set over the course of one school year in 1986, Eleanor & Park is funny, sad, shocking and true - an exquisite nostalgia trip for anyone who has never forgotten their first love.
Review: For the most part I enjoyed this YA story. Sometimes I think I'm just a little too old to fully appreciate stories about teenage love .. I don't think I'm a cynical person but then I find I can't quite let myself go and believe in it totally. I look at it through the eyes of an adult sadly. I didn't feel that the transition between two people who can hardly bear to look at one another to two people amazingly attracted to each other was adequately explained. It was like a flicked switch to me and I couldn't quite fathom it but then, obviously, I know that such seismic shifts can occur in love. It's just that .. I probably don't do subtle! 
I would have liked more development and perhaps a slower coming together. Totally readable though and I definitely got caught up in the story .. couldn't put it down really so can imagine that my teenage self would have been totally absorbed and would probably have identified with it in a million, zillion, ways. Really enjoyed all the family stuff .. heart wrenching and excellently told. Liked it!
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Waterlog by Roger Deakin
Synopsis: Roger Deakin set out in 1996 to swim through the British Isles. The result a uniquely personal view of an island race and a people with a deep affinity for water. From the sea, from rock pools, from rivers and streams, tarns, lakes, lochs, ponds, lidos, swimming pools and spas, from fens, dykes, moats, aqueducts, waterfalls, flooded quarries, even canals, Deakin gains a fascinating perspective on modern Britain. Detained by water bailiffs in Winchester, intercepted in the Fowey estuary by coastguards, mistaken for a suicude on Camber sands, confronting the Corryvreckan whirlpool in the Hebrides, he discovers just how much of an outsider the native swimmer is to his landlocked, fully-dressed fellow citizens. Encompassing cultural history, autobiography, travel writing and natural history, Waterlog is a personal journey, a bold assertion of the native swimmer's right to roam, and an unforgettable celebration of the magic of water.Review: I'm not a natural swimmer, I can barely put a few strokes together and wild swimming would be totally beyond me, but I would love to be the sort of person who could just dive into a river or lake and not mind about the wildlife and pond weed etc and so reading about it seemed a good alternative and I thoroughly enjoyed Roger's account. Not everyone agrees with wild swimming, and so Roger is often interrupted and badgered .. you need quite a bit of bravado to tackle the humans that will undoubtedly start telling you that 'you can't do that here' .. let alone negotiate the currents and tides. He's a big fan of open air pools and all sorts of outdoor swimming so his swimming adventures are varied and provide completely different experiences. He actually goes swimming in Cirencester's local open air pool which is something we've not managed to do yet
.. he'd be disappointed to learn that it's had a refurb since .. he preferred the original and simplistic approach (alas though, Roger died in 2006 ) Along the way he talks to many people who remember wild swimming as it used to be in the good old days when rules and regs and health and safety hadn't taken over ... it seemed like quite a paradise then. An inspiring read. Liked it enormously!
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Good to 'see' you Kay
! Great reviews .Thanks Gaia
xx :cows: I've had this lined up for a while to read, both as part of the counties challenge, and since I read Sathnam Sanghera's Marriage Material, which is apparently a 21st century retake of OWT. Claire gave OWT a really good review too, so doubly promising! Must read it soon now.
I think you'll like it Will, hope you do anyway
The pleasure was all mine. Looking forward to the next time.
Yes!
Me too! xx -
Through the Woods - Emily Carroll
Synopsis: 'It came from the woods. Most strange things do.' Five mysterious, spine-tingling stories follow journeys into (and out of?) the eerie abyss. These chilling tales spring from the macabre imagination of acclaimed and award-winning comic creator Emily Carroll. Come take a walk in the woods and see what awaits you there...Review: Deliciously chilling
I don't often read graphic novels .. but when I see one as beautiful and strange as this one then I'm converted. I liked all the stories, though I think the first one was my favourite (and I LOVED the intro .. which is illustrated in the same style.) There are few words, the pictures say it all (sometimes you have to really think about it after the story has finished .. she doesn't spell it all out, she leaves it hanging like all good writers of the macabre .. and it's so artistically done .. every twist and turn of the story, every chill, expertly conveyed to the page with great sweeps of colour and bold graphics. It's only terrifying with a small T of course, I can't cope with anything seriously macabre .. it's more Angela Carter than anything. Plus, I suppose the fact that it is illustratively told makes it less frightening .. or does it? The images can imprint in your memory in a horribly penetrating way. Yes, actually, I think this is the sort of book that is liable to haunt you at night .. you'll struggle to fall asleep after closing the pages and then you'll jump awake when it inexplicably crashes to the floor at 3.10 am
I'll try and add some pics to give you an idea. Anyone who likes a slightly twisted story and loves graphic novels will love this (and it's a perfect gift for those people.) It's a beautiful, if disturbing, thing to behold. Perfect for dark winter nights.
Loved it! 
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The Old Wives' Tale - Arnold Bennett
Synopsis: You might find it hard to imagine that those stout ageing spinsters living quietly in small English towns ever led lives of passion or hardship, that they ever possessed beauty or romantic ideals. In The Old Wives' Tale, Arnold Bennett tells the story of two such old wives, sisters Constance and Sophia, from youth, through marriage, heartbreak, triumphs and disasters, to old age. In doing so, he reveals with careful compassion the intense inner lives that throb beneath every seemingly insignificant exterior.Review: I really, really, enjoyed this. It took me a while to get into it, the story goes into some detail at the beginning about the town, the people that inhabit it and its history etc before it really gets to grips with the lives of Constance and Sophia but once it got going I was hooked. It's quite a long book but, after the initial investment, never a trial .. though I heard it read on audio (just over 24 hours in length) which might have helped. It was read by the actor David Haig and he really is a sublime reader. I searched for other books narrated by him straight away afterwards but alas, this was the only one
I like that this story encompasses practically all of Constance and Sophia's lives .. that we follow them through to their twilight years. You can't help getting involved to the point where what happens to them matters to you. Sometimes the reader spends long periods of time with Constance and hears nothing or very little about Sophia and sometimes it's the reverse and I found my opinion of the two sisters kept changing the more the story continued and their circumstances changed. Fascinating.
The writing is gorgeous and the story affecting. Lots of twists and turns though it can't be called fast paced, the story is told gently and leisurely. I've never read anything from Arnold before .. I only knew of him through his omelette
but I definitely want to read more .. I just hope they can get David Haig to narrate more. Loved it! -
Not that I want to make you all jealous or anything, but met up with lovely Claire and lovely Janet yesterday for coffee, cake, and booky chats.
What a pleasure! -
Fairly sunny and fairly warm. Not as warm as August should probably be but pleasant
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Sweet Home Alabama - Lynyrd Skynyrd
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Jane Austen .. her two unfinished novels intrigue me a lot .. especially Sanditon .. I would have liked to see how it panned out (it has been finished .. but not by Jane!!) She was just getting into her stride
Emily Bronte .. it's just shocking that we only got that one great novel from her
Would her other stories have been so passionate and with such destructive characters? PLUS more books might have inspired more Kate Bush songs win,win!! Yes, we should have had more from ALL the Bronte sisters .. cruel, cruel, world.Sylvia Plath .. definitely would have loved to read more novels from Sylvia. Even though they'd probably lead me to dark places and not be good for me
Some of the living need a shove too
Come on Susanna Clarke .. buck up!!!! -
I went to a charityshop yesterday, and a flea market today, and came home with the following:
Books:
- The Lies We Told by Diane Chamberlain
- The Dirty Streets of Heaven by Tad Williams (added this on my wishlist after reading Timstar's review)
- Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey
- Kill the Dead by Richard Kadrey
- Nenäpäivä by Mikko Rimminen (a Finnish award-winning novel that I've read before and really liked)
Movies:
- Stranger Than Fiction
- Rööperi (a Finnish movie which I've seen and loved)
I've now acquired 34 books, which is only three short of 37, which is my last year's total for acquired books...
Yes .. we have to keep reminding ourselves that this is why we're here .. we're addicts!!
Perfectly normal behaviour in other words and prob a sign that you're enjoying your reading more which is very woohoo and fabulous (time to get the cows out! ) :cows: Hope you enjoy all the books and films my love .. keep you occupied and out of mischief for a while anyway
xx <3 xx -
I know who to blame if I don't!
Kidding! I'm sure I'll enjoy it. 
Eek!
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I finished Forensics by Val McDermid last night, and I'm still making my way through Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. After that, I will pick up The Bees by Laline Paull. It's the last of my library books to read, and I may focus on some Kindle books after that (depending of course if I borrow more from the library, which I most likely will.
).Hope you enjoy The Bees bobbs
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My mojo's been a bit sluggish of late (mojo says .. 'you can talk'
) so I've struggled to read much. This wasn't helped by my picking up Boris Akunin's The Turkish Gambit .. the book that gave me all sorts of trouble re: its cover. I now know why you can't get the edition with the lovely matching cover .. it's jolly well hard work that's why .. they were wanting to gloss over it I'm sure (nothing to see here .. move on ) I started reading it with Al but he lost interest and so I continued on my own but what a slog .. the subject matter was tricksy to say the least. I know nothing of the Russo-Turkish war of 1877 .. and I'm not sure I'm any more enlightened now Erast Fandorin hardly featured I was so disappointed. It's just a hurdle to be got over though and I've done that now .. the first book (The Winter Queen) was so good that I'm sure this is just a blip. Still, good job I bought a second hand copy with the rotten cover .. it won't matter now when I hurl it into the duck pond Thankfully, the library came to my aid .. I've read a couple of good books since .. Waterlog by Roger Deakin and Ten Sorry Tales by Mick Jackson (my reading of The Turkish Gambit could have counted as the eleventh
) and my mojo is coming out of its sulk .. thank goodness!
Andrea's reading in 2016
in Past Book Logs
Posted
Glad to hear you're feeling better Andrea and that you've found books to enjoy